Livry (France) (AFP)

Shaken by the crisis linked to Covid-19, the linen industry dreams of relocation to France, the world's leading producer of this fiber, an agricultural nugget 80% processed in China.

"It would be great. It is still a shame: we produce flax here, it leaves for China and returns here" in the form of mainly clothing, summarizes Bertrand Lefèvre, 27-year-old cultivator in Parfouru-l'Eclin (Calvados).

Behind him roars the machine which tears off and lays on the ground the plants with bright green and yellow reflections. Linen intended for textiles is not cut, but torn off, and it must remain on the ground for several weeks before the fiber is extracted in the factory.

Linen has a good press: even if it is rarely organic (barely 1% of production), this plant with blue flowers is more ecological than cotton. And from the root to the seed, everything is used (textile, paper, composite materials, fodder).

But with a virus that first affected Asia, the farmers were completely deprived of outlets for many months. "It's starting up a little bit," says Marc Vandecandelaere, president of the cooperative. But prices have dropped, "almost half," according to producers. In organic, they remained stable according to Hemp and organic flax.

The blow is harsh but flax is only one production among others for farmers and the fall in prices follows a surge.

This crop, risky because very dependent on a clever alternation of rain and sun, can be very profitable (from 2,000 to 6,000 euros per hectare against 500 to 1,000 for wheat according to Mr. Bertrand). Since the Covid, "we have come back to much more logical prices", explains a sector executive.

- A return from the spinning mills -

Faced with this shock, five LREM deputies pleaded to "relocate the whole sector in the production regions" (Normandy, Hauts de France) which have "4,000 producers and a thousand employees".

There are numerous scouring plants (separation of fibers by grinding and threshing) in France. That of the Caennais cooperative thus employs 40 people in Villons-les-Buissons. Producers even have a linen clothing store there. But the spinning mills have disappeared from France for 20 years. Or almost.

The weaver Emmanuel Lang (Velcorex group) has just opened one in Hirsingue (Haut-Rhin), after importing machines from Hungary. "It is an aberration to have abandoned" spinning in France, "especially with the ecological transition", thinks its CEO Pierre Schmitt, stressing that flax can also replace petroleum derivatives or insulate housing.

The factory would process 150 tonnes of flax per year (out of 150,000 produced in France) at first, then 1,000 in the medium term.

Faced with the demand for high-end products, the NatUp group, which has just acquired a majority share in the linen weaver Lemaître-Demeestere, promises another spinning of linen at the end of 2021 in Saint-Martin-du-Tilleul (Eure). And in Evrecy (Calvados), an organic linen t-shirt factory is announced for the fall. However, these two projects are still awaiting confirmation of their funding.

"I am 200% in favor, but we will manage to spin out at our home at a price that will be almost double that of Asia. Will the consumer follow?" Wonders Mr. Vandecandelaere, however.

Emmanuel Lang promises 100% linen jeans made in France for the fall, at no additional cost due to relocation. According to him, "integrated production", the proximity of the various trades, compensates for the additional cost of labor.

© 2020 AFP